Manuel v. Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

Filing 8

INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER: Motion to Amend Pleadings due by 11/22/2013. Discovery due by 1/2/2014. Dispositive Motions due by 8/1/2014. Signed by Magistrate Judge E. Clifton Knowles on 7/22/13. (DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(dt)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
ELIZABETH MANUEL,
Plaintiffs,
v.
GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF
MIDDLE TENNESSEE, INC.,
Defendant.

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Civil No. 3:13-cv-00522
JUDGE CAMPBELL
MAGISTRATE JUDGE KNOWLES

INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER
In accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) and Local Rule 16.01,
Plaintiff Elizabeth Manuel and Defendant Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
submit this proposed Initial Case Management Order.
1.

Jurisdiction. This Court has original jurisdiction over this action under

28 U.S.C. § 1331 in that the Plaintiff's claims involve a federal question arising under an
alleged violation of Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, 42 U.S.C. §
12101 et seq. See Comp. ¶¶14, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, and 32.
2.

Service of Process. Service of process has been completed. Defendant

does not dispute the sufficiency of service of process.
3.

Responsive Pleadings. Responsive pleadings have been filed and served.

4.

Plaintiff’s Theory of the Case. The Plaintiff was hired by the Defendant

in January of 2012 as a production worker.
During her employment, she sustained an on the job injury on or about February
23, 2012. The Defendant refused to accommodate the Plaintiff. During this applicable

time period, Plaintiff always followed her physician’s instructions, recommendations and
restrictions. Plaintiff requested the Defendant accommodate her limitations and
restrictions as assigned by her treating physician. The Defendant retaliated against her for
exercising those rights by terminating her employment. Because of her disability,
Plaintiff was terminated under the pretext that she was unable to keep up with production.
The Plaintiff submits that she was discriminated against in violation of Americans
with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq, and requests damages
including back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and costs from the
Defendant.
5.

Defendant’s Theory of the Case.

Goodwill is a non-profit organization known throughout Middle Tennessee for
selling donated goods to raise money to help individuals who face various obstacles or
barriers to employment. Goodwill has many programs designed to assist individuals to
enter or reenter the workforce. One of these programs is called Career Solutions. This
program includes job search, job training, and job placement. The individuals selected to
participate in Career Solutions are not employed by Goodwill. Rather, they are clients
who are taking advantage of training services provided by Goodwill to help them find a
job either at Goodwill or at another local employer.
Plaintiff was a client selected to participate in Career Solutions. As part of the
program, Plaintiff was sent to a Goodwill store location for a few weeks so she could
demonstrate whether she was ready to enter the workforce either at Goodwill or at
another employer. This process is called a situational assessment. Plaintiff signed a
statement acknowledging she understood she was not employed by Goodwill during the

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situational assessment and that undergoing the situational assessment did not provide any
guarantee that Plaintiff would ultimately be offered employment by Goodwill. Plaintiff
completed the situational assessment period and was provided with feedback regarding
areas she needed to improve in order to be fully ready to enter the workforce at some
point in time. Subsequently, Plaintiff failed to respond to efforts by Career Solutions to
reach her regarding additional training and job opportunities. Plaintiff was ultimately
dropped from the training program in July of 2012 for failure to respond.
Plaintiff was never an employee of Goodwill Industries. Because Plaintiff was
not an employee as that term is defined under the Americans With Disabilities Act
Amendments Act (“ADAAA”) she does not have standing to bring a claim of
discrimination.
Even if Plaintiff could establish that she was an employee, her claims of
discrimination would still fail. During the situational assessment, Plaintiff reported that
she had sprained her wrist or hand. She continued to work and finished the situational
assessment period. Goodwill had no knowledge that the alleged sprain had any impact
on Plaintiff’s major life activities much less a substantially limiting impact. It certainly
did not prevent Plaintiff from finishing the situational assessment.

The alleged sprain

does not fall with the definition of a “disability” under the ADAAA and, therefore,
Plaintiff cannot prove even the first element of a prima facie case of disability
discrimination.
Plaintiff was advised in advance and acknowledged in writing that she was
undergoing at situational assessment to test her work skills and productivity as part of the
Career Solutions training program. She knew she was not an employee of Goodwill and

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knew the situational assessment would conclude after a few weeks.

Based on the

admissions by Plaintiff, there is no basis for a claim of disability discrimination.
6.

Other Claims. At this time, the parties are not aware of the need for any

counterclaims, cross-claims, third-party claims, or joinder of additional parties or claims
in this action. Motions to Amend the Pleadings are due on or before November 22, 2013.
7.

Discovery.

a.

Mandatory Initial Disclosures.

Parties must make their initial

disclosures pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) by August 22, 2013.
b.

Written Discovery. All written discovery requests shall be served by no

later than January 2, 2014.
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c.

Depositions. Depositions of all fact witnesses are to be completed by

May 1, 2014. Depositions of any expert witnesses and treating physicians disclosed by
Plaintiff shall be completed by June 1, 2014. Depositions of any expert witnesses and
treating physicians disclosed by Defendant shall be completed by July 1, 2014.
d.

Expert Disclosures. Plaintiffs shall disclose any experts who will testify

and provide information summarizing their testimony, in accordance with Rule 26 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to opposing counsel on or before April 1, 2014.
Defendants shall disclose their experts who will testify and provide information
summarizing their testimony, in accordance with Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, to opposing counsel on or before May 1, 2014.
e.

Discovery Limits. Rule 9(a)(2) of the Local Rules of Court is expanded

to allow 40 interrogatories, including sub-parts and successive sets. The parties have

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considered other limitations on discovery and agree that no limitations on discovery
should be made at this time beyond those that apply pursuant to the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure.
f.

Protective Orders. The parties will attempt to reach agreement on the

language of a proposed protective order. If the parties are unable to reach agreement,
then either party may seek a protective order or other discovery limitations in accordance
with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
g.

Discovery Disputes. No motions regarding discovery disputes shall be

filed until after the parties have personally conferred in a good faith effort to resolve the
dispute between themselves. Discovery-related Motions are due on or before May 15, 2014.
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h.

Rule 26(f) Conference. The Initial Case Management Conference shall

serve as the parties’ Rule 26(f) discovery conference.
8.

Settlement and Alternative Dispute Resolution. The parties believe that

this case has the potential to be settled outside of court. The parties agree that the best
time to consider alternative dispute resolution in the form of a possible nonbinding
mediation will likely be after completion of written discovery and the deposition of the
parties and fact witnesses, but before deposing experts and the filing of summary
judgment motions.
9.

Pretrial Motions. Briefs in support of pretrial motions shall not exceed

25 pages in length.
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10.

Dispositive Motions. All dispositive motions are to be filed by August 1,

2014. Responses shall be filed by within 30 days of filing of the motion. Replies shall be
filed by within 10 business days of service of the response and shall not exceed 10 pages.
11.

Proceeding Before Magistrate Judge. The parties respectfully decline

the invitation to proceed before a magistrate judge.
12.

Target trial date:

The target (non-jury) trial date is

December 9, 2014, to last 2-3 days.

By signing below, this court approves the above stated Initial Case Management
Order, with modifications, if any, and it is hereby made an order of this court.

ENTERED this _____ day of _______________________, 2013.

E. Clifton Knowles
Magistrate Judge

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